Cost of living and its trend (Missoula, Great Falls: renting, condo, house)

[historyfan]

As far as the real estate prices for houses, in general the Western side fell off a cliff in 2010 along with US economy. There were many foreclosures & short sales.
While most of the Eastern side has continued to go up...most increased by at least 30% since 2010. The oil patch areas of the easternmost & northeasternmost part of the state increased considerably more than that due to lack of acute lack of existing housing---those prices may change.

Billings is considered the East/West marker.

[TheKezarWoodsman]

fell off a cliff, do you mean prices dropped, or rose quickly.

150k to 100k, or 150k to 200k (just easy numbers).

[TheKezarWoodsman]

Some towns i have marked down just to give an idea of the area im looking, (mostly based on population/location atm)

troy
trout creek
pablo
plains

ect.

to gewtr a better area take the town sheridan, that would be the furthest east i would go.

[historyfan]

Listing prices dropped & real estate still did not move.

Those towns you listed are all in economically depressed areas---the poorest counties in the state.

[TheKezarWoodsman]

Originally Posted by historyfan

Listing prices dropped & real estate still did not move.

Those towns you listed are all in economically depressed areas---the poorest counties in the state.

ive noticed that looking at maps, they seem to be roughly 30k average per family, the eastern counties seem about 40-45k. So i am going to have to assume one can survive on 30k in said counties, as those are listed as the average income (as stated almost the same as maine)

town: family: person (thousands
troy: 25: 17
libby: 25: 18
plains: 23: 18
pablo: 30: 15
dillon: 40: 20

So ya, its much lower than other parts of the state. Anyone from that part of the state who could chime in? (im assuming you historyfan are not based on your posts, however correct me if i am wrong)

[historyfan]

I think MT has several sweet spots.

I'm fond of Dillon. It's a very middle class easy going town with a college & strong Ag economy. And it has nothing in common with your other choices.

Pablo, not enrolled Salish or Kootenai---not wise.
Plains, off rez but rough--life is too short, see above.
Libby, superfund site---not if free.
Troy, economically depressed---nope.

Now if you want remote in NW with nice folks---look at Eureka.

[TheKezarWoodsman]

Eureka was one of the towns that keeps coming up, and looks really good, but no 24/7 er within an hour i believe (i need er as diabetic, if i get sick and vomit alot, it can get nasty quick.

All i need for a er is iv, and its all i have ever needed in a er except for my diagnosis, and for a few stiches on a finger. For sceduled appointments im fine driving 1-2 hours, in fact the current location i go is about 1 hour up no traffic, but always 3ish back during rush hour.

[TheKezarWoodsman]

Eureka is 26k average family, 15k per person (rounded once again)

[TheKezarWoodsman]

On another topic, did montana expand medicare/caid(idk which could be), some sources say yes, others say no. Idc either way, just wondering.

[Senah]

Well, here's something to keep in mind. Take a city like Bozeman for example. It was recently ranked as the 19th wealthiest small town in the US. But, at the same time, a little over 20% (that is a fifth) of the citizens live below the federal poverty line. If you expand that to the Gallatin Valley, it is over 25% (a quarter of the population).

That is a pretty huge deal, especially in terms of health care costs, food, and housing (which is the biggest expense around here).

Medicaid expansion did pass. While usually support systems like that aren't a big deal in the state, this one was a good thing that most people on both sides did support, because with Obamacare, what happened in the state was that we have enough poor people that in places like sliding scale clinics that most of the time people go to for short term help with care when their finances are bad and they are too poor to qualify for Medicaid, etc., they STILL didn't qualify because Obamacare didn't offer coverage but simply exempted them from the fine, but also to pay for Obamacare many of the usual grants to these clinics didn't come through, so they all still had the same or more patients, but less money to help them. So, it was really good that Medicaid expansion passed because these folks really needed it, and often people won't even go for help here because it is a pride thing, so if they are asking for help, likely they really need it.

At any rate, it is an interesting situation for many places in Montana.